Parenting 101 or Why Alma is Da MAN

Can I just tell you how awesome Alma was? 'Cuz he was pretty awesome.

I mean, as a person, he was a pretty cool guy. At first he was kind of a jerk, devoting his time to turning people away from the church, then was visited by an angel (because of the prayers of his father) and turned his whole life around, became a prophet and leader of the church, and later became the chief judge of Zarahemla because everyone thought so highly of him and trusted him so much. Then he devoted his life to teaching the gospel to the people. If you want to read his story, go here. Suffice it to say, he was a great, great man. He's my hero even without being an awesome parent.

Now the scriptures tell us nothing of his life as a parent, but I'm pretty sure that he was a darn good one. (Please excuse my soft-swear.)

What makes me think he was a good parent? Because he wrote the book on how to be a good parent. Actually it's not even a book. It's just two sentences. That's right, it's only two sentences long. TWO!!

I stumbled across it as I was reading yesterday morning. Want to read it?

Here it is:

“And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.

And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works.”

-Alma 7:23-24

That last part, I'm pretty sure could be read as "...and then ye will always abound in good parenting."

What could be better advice for parenting than that? First off, you need to be humble and submissive. How are you going to be able to ask for and get Heavenly Father's help if you aren't humble enough to receive it? Next you are told to be patient and long-suffering. I think all parents are very aware of how much patience it takes to raise children. But it's nice to hear it and be reminded over and over...and over. Then we are told to be temperate. What does that mean? It means being steady, consistent, and in control. Vital qualities in order to build trust with your kids and also vital in disciplining them. And then there's keeping the commandments of God. There is power in doing the things God has asked of us. And that power is vital in helping us raise our kids. When we do what God asks, He is more likely to be able to bless us with what we need when we ask for it. Don't forget to ask for His help in raising your kids! He knows them better than you do. He understands exactly what they need and when they need it. He understands why they sometimes act the way they do. And I'm pretty sure he loves our kids as much as we do so, of course, he will help us help them. All we have to do is ask. Finally, we need to remember to thank him for helping us. Always remember to give thanks.

There you go. Parenting 101. All you ever needed to know in raising kids.

Thanks, Alma. You are now my parenting hero.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Lest you think we aren't doing anything to celebrate St. Patrick's Day at our house.

Behold! The wearing of the green!

The New 'Do

On Tuesday we took Caleb to a salon to get his hair cut. It wasn't that we didn't like his nice long hair. It was just getting too hard to keep from getting little knots in it. Lint would show up in his hair often and it was just hard to keep it looking nice. I knew it needed a trim and we decided it was time to take him to someone who knew about his type of hair and get their opinion on what was best for it.

Here's what Caleb's hair looked like Monday night.

A. Dorable.

But it needed to be cut. Or trimmed at least. Zack found a place to take him, booked a time, and last Tuesday we went.

Chris, Caleb's stylist, told us that Caleb's hair wasn't mature enough to shave off completely. (Not that that was what we were looking for.) It would damage the scalp. If he did that then the hair would grow back thicker, coarser and harder to manage as he got older. So he said he would take about half of the hair off.

Half. Right.

Caleb was pretty good for him and sat in the chair. Zack tried to keep his attention away from the clippers. Chris started to take a few cuts off the top. And then, well, I'm not sure if he just decided it was too hard to style a toddlers hair or what, but the clippers came out and he shaved all but a half inch of hair off.

Caleb looks happy. Chris, not so much.

When it was all done, Caleb gave Chris a thank you and then a flirty smile that he usually reserves for flight attendants and blondes. (We didn't tell Chris that. Not quite sure if he'd take it as a compliment...) He also gave Chris some "knuck", so that was good.

With short hair, Caleb didn't look older to me like I thought he would- he looked younger. Kind of like when he was 6 months old. And, I hate to admit it, but I kind of missed the fro. That night Zack and I both thought Caleb looked like a middle-aged black lady with all that short hair.

The next morning I actually woke up feeling pretty bummed about his short hair. I really missed the fro. But, after looking at it again, it started to grow on me and I realized how cute Caleb looked.

He is looking more like a little boy!

And he can wear a hat!

When we put a hat on him with a fro he resembled Bill Cosby from the '70's. (Think little puffs of hair sticking out over his ears. Nice, huh?) No puffs of hair here:

(I just put this picture on so you could be jealous that I get to kiss those cheeks. All The Time.)

All in all, I think my little guy is a cutie with

OR without a fro.